Journey of a Lifetime
by moriartyswife
Summary: I had been to Neverland before, with my father and uncle on a quest from the king. I had befriended Peter Pan then left in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye. Now I'm back, to help save Emma's son Henry. In and out, that was how simple it was supposed to be. I'm Lucy Jones, daughter of Killian Jones and the girl that simple doesn't apply to. (Rated T for safety)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Years Ago:

Going on a quest for the king sounded exciting. This was the first time my father ever let me go with him since my mother left us two years ago. I stood on the deck, listening to Father talk about how the ship needed to be swabbed or whatever the term was. I stared out at the sea, uninterested in the lecture since it had nothing to with me for once. I'd missed this. The smell of the sea, the rocking of the ship from the waves under my feet. Father stopped mid-sentence from his orders.

"Rum, sailor?" He asked. I turned to face the scene. I knew how he felt about rum. "Does anyone know what happens to sailors who drink rum?" He circled the group. "They get drunk. And drunkenness leads to bad form. There's one thing that won't be tolerated aboard this ship is bad form."

I watched him throw the bottle over the railing beside me. Rum didn't just cause bad form. It ruined lives. A drunken sailor could forget his duties and everyone on board would be at risk. A drunken woman could get married and run off into the night with another man, leaving her fourteen year old daughter in a nasty pub.

"My ship has never been in finer hands." Uncle Liam boarded the ship, approaching Father.

"Aye, Captain. We stand ready to receive the king's orders." Father replied.

"To your stations." Liam ordered. The men began to move about. Father and Liam shook hands. "Lucy, you've gotten shorter." I grinned at him, stepping forward into a bear hug. His sense of humor continued to get worse.

"I missed you too, Uncle." I replied. The thing I loved most about Liam was the way he treated me. He gave me the freedom I wanted. I wasn't treated as an insolent child.

"When the king summoned me, I knew there was only one man I could trust to navigate this difficult journey, my little brother." Liam said. I followed behind Father, trying to stay out of the men's way. They would never say anything to me but I understood the sneers from annoyed men.

"Perhaps you mean younger brother." Father replied. I tried to hide my giggle. Liam always liked to tease Father.

"Not likely." I muttered under my breath. Neither of them heard my comment, that or they chose to ignore it. Liam opened his satchel. Inside was a golden sextant.

"A gift, to commemorate our latest voyage together." Liam pulled it out, giving it to Father. I'd never seen such a beautiful one before.

"A sextant. You always were the sentimental type."

"Look closer, brother."

"I've never seen markings like this. To what strange land are we headed?" He asked. I stood on my tiptoes to get a better look at the sextant. I'd only ever seen one or two of them and none had barred those markings.

"I'm under orders not say until we arrive." Liam answered, making his way to the helm of the ship. Interested in the sudden spark of secrecy, I continued to follow them.

"But brother—"

"This is the mission of our dreams. The mission that will bring peace to the kingdom and glory to the Jones brothers."

"A hero's journey. That is indeed good form, brother." Father turned to address a crew member. "Master Bosom, all hands prepare to set sail."

A series of movements occurred around me but I stayed next to my uncle. He kept his eyes on anything but me, a slight smile lingering on his face. He always brought me something from his trips, no matter where he went to. I cleared my throat, growing impatient.

"Alright, I've got something for you too, Lu-Lu." Liam caved. He opened his satchel again, pulling out a necklace. It had a nautical wheel pendant with an anchor in the center of the wheel. Etched on the bottom of the wheel was Lucy and on the back it read: _Not all treasure is silver and gold._

"It's beautiful! I love it. Thank you so much." I said, giving him another hug. Uncle Liam had never married nor did he have any children. I was the closest thing that he had. He's been here my entire life. I left Liam to work and quickly showed Father my necklace before going below deck.

I stayed in my cabin for a while. I'd only be in the way on deck until we got further out to sea and things calmed down. I loved the open water. Most girls I knew were afraid of it. I wasn't. How could I be? I was practically raised on a ship. It's in my blood. I spent an hour going over some maps Liam allowed me to borrow to study. It got complicated trying to memorize all the places. I decided to take a break and get some fresh air but returning to the deck.

"I've never seen these constellations before." Father said. He and Liam were looking at a journal. I'd come into a serious discussion. I waited on the stairs, not wanting to interrupt.

"No one has. That' right. We're going to a new land, brother." Liam replied, excitement laced in his tone. I smiled. This sounded like an adventure.

"Enemy sighted off the port quarter." A crewman yelled. Both men grabbed their spyglass and looked in the sighted direction. This meant trouble. Father named the types of ships and started to give orders, first to the crew, then to me. I had to go back below deck.

"Belay that order." Liam shouted. Father and I turned to look at him. We couldn't outrun them. It simply wasn't possible, even I knew that. "Deploy the Pegasus." A bell rang and the crew began to let down a sail. I'd never seen one that had been made that way.

"What is that?" Father asked.

"That is a sail woven from the last remaining feathers from the great creature Pegasus."

"Legend has it that creature could fly." Father continued.

"Indeed. And so can we. Hang on. Lucy, you'll want to see this." Liam beamed at me. Flying? A flying ship? The ship creaked and lurched forward. I held onto the railing and watched the sea get more distant as the ship rose into the air.

"Set a course lieutenant, second star to the right and straight on till morning." Liam ordered. He strode over to me where I was leaning over the railing touching the clouds. He grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me back onto the deck. "Feet on the deck at all times, Lucy."

"Yes, Captain." I mocked, saluting him. With a chuckle and an eye roll, Liam continued on. I leaned my arms against the railing. We were going to a new land, and flying, no less. I grinned at the thought of it. A journey of a lifetime.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Present:

It seemed as though that was a life time ago. Now, here we were back in Neverland. Since we'd left I'd aged 2 years. Now I was eighteen. It looked the same as when I'd left but it felt different. I seated myself on the crate, fiddling with the necklace that my uncle had given me so long ago. In that moment, I missed him more than usual.

"Are you alright, Lucy," Mary Margaret asked, taking a seat beside me. I simply nodded, still engrossed in my thoughts. "You seem to be deep in thought. If you need to talk to someone, I'm always here." I smiled a little. She was very motherly, unlike my own.

"You wouldn't understand." I replied quietly.

"I don't know, I might." She took a hold of my hand, waiting for my reply. If anyone on this ship would listen and not judge me, it would be her.

"This feels wrong." I said.

"In what way?" I glance up to see my father talking to David before he disappeared below deck with Emma. No doubt he told David to make sure I didn't jump ship.

"There's just something about Peter that you all don't understand." I started. Mary Margaret remained quiet. She probably hadn't been expecting that. "He didn't used to be like this. Granted, when I first met him, he wasn't completely innocent. He had just lost Wendy, but he still had this… glimmer of hope. Everything was a game, but simply for fun… not for gain."

Mary Margaret was about to reply but the ship jerked hard. I jumped up and ran to the railing. Mary joined David at the helm. I stared out into the water but couldn't see anything. I trailed behind Regina up the stairs. A storm wouldn't cause that kind of thud noise.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Regina yelled.

"Trying to keep it steady." Mary Margaret shouted back.

"Hold on." David said.

"Prepare for attack." Father ordered, moving to take the wheel of the ship. I gripped Regina's arm to keep from falling over.

"Be more specific." Regina said. I knew of only one thing that could cause this.

"If you've got a weapon, grab it." Father clarified. These creatures were hard to kill. They were fast. I could hear their screeches above the roar of the waves.

"What's out there? A shark? A whale?" Emma asked.

"A Kraken?" David added. I rolled my eyes at his assumption. There were no Krakens in Neverland. Besides, we'd already be dead if it were one. I wish it were a shark or whale. It's much easier to kill one.

"Much worse," My father replied. Looking over the railing, I could see them swimming under the water. I absolutely hated them.

"Mermaids." I said in unison with father. There was only one person I knew that could command the mermaids. As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think they are here for Emma.

"Mermaids?" Emma yelled. She still didn't believe, though she was here among us. She'd never beat Peter with that kind of mindset.

"Yes, and they are quite unpleasant." Father said. "I'll try and outrun them."

"How many of them are there?" Emma asked. Outrunning them would be a near impossible feat. I could throw myself over. Maybe they'd leave. Peter didn't send them to kill. The only way we got into Neverland is because he wanted us here.

"I will not be capsized by mermaids." David grabbed the canon. Did he really believe he could fight them off? Emma and Mary Margaret threw a net into the sea. This was turning from bad to worse.

"We caught one!" Mary Margaret shouted.

"One? There are dozens of them," Regina replied. "Enough of this." She created a fire ball and threw them out at the mermaids, sending them all away. I sighed. They were gone. "There. They're gone."

"Not all of them." Mary Margaret and Emma were still struggling with the one in the net. Regina used her magic again to transport the mermaid on deck. The mermaid flopped a bit.

"Get that thing off my ship." Father demanded. He was right. She was trouble.

"No. Now we have a hostage." Regina said.

"I hate to say it but I'm with Hook. Those things just tried to kill us." David descended the stairs to stand beside me. I kept my eyes on fixed on the mermaid.

"And perhaps we should find out why." Regina countered.

"How? By torturing her?" Mary Margaret asked.

"If need be, sure."

"No!" I yelled, trying to stop the mermaid. I was too late. She grabbed the conch and blew into it. I covered my ears at the blast.

"What the hell was that?" Emma asked.

"A warning. Let me go, or die." The mermaid said. I stood immobilized. It didn't matter if we let her go. This was not good.

"What is this?" David asked, picking up the conch. "What did you do?"

"Let me go." The mermaid asked sweetly.

"Not until you tell us." Regina demanded. "Or we make you tell us."

"Do you know what this is?" David turned his attention to me as Mary Margaret and Regina started to argue.

"I don't know. I've only ever heard stories." I replied. David put his hand on my shoulder, very fatherly like.

"Lucy, Hook told me about Pan.-"

"Told what? There's nothing to tell." I snapped. David gave me a stern look, as one would do with a disobedient child. I averted my eyes. I shouldn't feel like I was in trouble, this man was neither a friend nor family.

"What do you know?" He asked again.

"It brings death. No one has ever survived to tell the tale." I replied. Peter had told that once, when he took me to the lagoon.

"Or maybe she and her friends will come right back to kill us." Regina said. David took my explanation without any further questions. I still felt as though I was in trouble. I could feel my father watching me.

"I don't need my friends to kill you. You'll kill yourselves. Now let me go." The mermaid replied. A crack of lightening burst.

"It's a storm. She called it." Father said. The mermaid had done it, but only because she was backed into a corner. "Don't let her go. She'll swim off and leave us all to die. At least with her we've got leverage."

I tried to stay out of the argument of whether or not we should kill her. Either way, this storm was coming. The mermaid smiled at me. In her eyes, I could read that Peter had planned this. Nothing ever happened in Neverland without him knowing about it.

"He's waiting." The mermaid said. Regina turned her to stone. A heavy weight sat in my heart. I had to face him sometime.

"What did she mean?" Regina turned her anger to me. There was no time for an answer.

"Regina! What did you do?" Emma yelled. I looked past Regina. A massive wave headed straight for us. Everyone grabbed onto ropes, bracing themselves for the hit. The wave crashed down on us. I couldn't keep hold and was swept off the ship. I could breathe. As I lost consciousness, I barely felt something tugging me. I blacked out soon after.


End file.
